A Dance to Perform (Pt. 1)

(BaiLing's pov)

The next day, after arriving at the army base, I had Zhi Xuan file all the reports and send some to the palace. Since there were few reports to go through today, I spent some time outside training the soldiers and checking on the weapons. Everyone was training hard, working to improve themselves. Although things have been peaceful the past couple of years. No one knows when things might change, so it's best to be prepared.

After a long day of work, I finally went home. Since it was Sunday, my father and brother didn't have work, so as soon as I got home, I could go check on dinner right away.

During dinner, we chatted away. At one point, I remembered something and said.

"Ahhh, right. On the day of the empress dowager's birthday, I need to make a clone. I'll give her to you to take care of."

Zhi Chen: "Alright. I'll take good care of her."

Me: "Thanks."

I didn't often have to make a clone, but when I did, my brother was the one to take care of her.

Me: "By the way, are you ready?"

My brother looked at me and said.

"Of course."

Tonight, we were going to start our plan. After dinner, we returned to our rooms to get changed, and I also wrote up some notes for our little friend. However, since I didn't want to get caught, I wrote the letters using my left hand. Also, to avoid getting caught, my brother and I had prepared some paper and arrows, which could be bought at any store in the capital. Once done, I went to meet up with my brother. After notifying our dad, we turned into two little sparrows and flew off to the Chu manor. We turned back into human after landing on the roof.

Zhi Chen: "Are you sure this is where his room is?"

Me: "Hmm. I had someone check it out beforehand."

Zhi Chen: "Alright, you ready?"

I nodded my head and pulled out my fan. I turned it onto my bow, and my brother gave me the arrow. I attached the note to it and shot it at his door. A moment later, Chi Zhixin took the arrow off his door. He looked around to see who had shot it but failed. He then went back inside.

(Narrator's pov)

Inside his room, Zhixin opened the note to see what was written inside. When he saw the contents inside, he couldn't help but feel scared.

(Letter content)

"I know what you did. Queen's poison."

He quickly went outside to check if anything or anyone was outside, but he couldn't see anything in the dark night. Once back inside, he burned the note and went to bed, pretending that nothing had ever happened.

Seeing as the lights were out in his room, the Ming siblings went back home. The first day of their plan was done. Tomorrow would be part two.

The next night, BaiLing prepared another letter. In this one, she wrote.

"You can't hide forever. I know what you did."

And once again, after reading the letter, he burned it. This went on for four days straight, causing Zhixin to become increasingly anxious by the day. On the fifth night, the two siblings decided to do something different. Not only did they shoot the arrow with the letter, but they also shot multiple ones at his door and through his window. After taking the letter, he started to scream out.

"HELP, HELP ME. SOMEONE'S TRYING TO KILL ME!"

Soon some guards came, and so did the Chu family. All concerned, they asked him what had happened.

Zhixin: "I... I don't know. I was just reading when these arrows came out of nowhere. Uncle... someone's trying to kill me."

General Chu looked around, trying to figure out what was going on.

Jinhai: "Go and look around. See if the culprit is still around."

Guards: "Understood."

The guards quickly left to go find the culprit. Meanwhile, BaiLing and Zhi Chen turned back into sparrows to continue to watch the show. Zhi Chen couldn't help but laugh at the show he saw. However, when he laughed, it was only a sparrow's chirping.

The guards soon came back with no results. General Chu increased security, and everyone returned to their rooms. However, this wasn't enough for the two. The next night they came back and did the same thing. And once again.

Zhixin: "HELP, HELP ME... SOMEONE'S TRYING TO KILL ME. HELP..."

Soon general Chu, madam Chu, and Xiu Ming came running into his courtyard. They couldn't understand what was going on. Just who was it that wanted him dead? This was the second night in a row. And the same as last time, they couldn't find anyone. 

This gave the Ming siblings a good laugh. When they returned home and told their dad what was going on, even he couldn't help but chuckle. The two of them repeated this for two more nights. Each night was just as entertaining. On the fourth night, even Lian Tian, who was usually asleep then, had woken up and went to see what had happened.

Lian Tian: "Gege, are you alright? You keep screaming for the past couple of days. Are you having a nightmare? Do you need a stuffy? I can lend you one."

Hearing this made Zhi Chen burst out laughing, but good thing BaiLing covered his mouth in time, or else they would have gotten caught.

Madam Chu: "Hua'er, take your brother back to bed."

Chin Hua nodded and took Lian Tian back to his room.

General Chu: "Zhixin, have you made an enemy with anyone lately? If not, then..."

Zhixin: "Uncle, I rarely leave the house. How can I become anyone's enemy?"

Xiu Ming: "Then... (sigh). It's late now, and you still have work. Dad, let's rest up for tonight first and figure things out tomorrow. Ge, we'll get to the bottom of this, don't worry."

General Chu agreed, and they went back to sleep. The next day after coming back from work. Zhi Chen and their father was looking particularly amused.

BaiLing: "What happened? Why do you guys look like that?"

Zhi Chen quickly came up to BaiLing and asked.

"Guess what?"

BaiLing: "What?"

Zhi Chen: "This morning, when I came in, I saw Xiu Ming. He looked so tired. It was hilarious. So did his father. I guess everyone is tired from our surprise."

BaiLing couldn't help but laugh. Although they didn't mean to harm them. It indirectly affected them.

BaiLing: "Then, why don't we give them a rest tonight. And start again tomorrow?"

Zhi Chen agreed with her. It wasn't too good to harass them too much. So, everyone in the Chu manor got a good night's sleep. When Zhi Chen came home the next day, he told BaiLing that everyone was looking much better. However, the two knew that this peace would not last long.

Once the sun had completely set, the two got ready to head out again. The two decided to do something a little different on this particular night. BaiLing had Bai Yang go and gather the evidence for her, and tonight, she would send it to Zhixin. After the arrows were shot, Zhixin had gotten so scared that he forgot to grab the notes before screaming out for help. So, he could only stuff them into his sleeve when everyone arrived.

Jinhai: "Again? What on earth is going on? It didn't happen yesterday."

Xiu Ming: "Dad, maybe we should report this. Maybe we can find some clues from there."

All of a sudden, Zhixin screamed out.

"NO!"

Everyone looked back at him, confused. Although they didn't know what was happening, they started to suspect it had something to do with his previous plans. General Chu cared very much about his family and didn't want to make a big deal out of things, but if it harmed his wife and kids, he couldn't just sit and do nothing.

Siyang: "Ge, you keep screaming every night. No one in this house can get any sleep. Wouldn't it be good to report this and get it over as soon as possible?"

Darting his eyes back and forth, Zhixin tried to figure out what to say. One wrong word and things could go badly.

Zhixin: "I... I just don't think it worth it to report it."

Siyang: "But you scream like a girl every night. Like you're about to die. But you're not dead yet."

Madam Chu: "Siyang! How can you say that?"

Siyang: "Mom, it's true. Lian Tian is the heaviest sleeper in the house, and even he isn't getting enough sleep. At this rate, we'll all die of sleep deprivation before anything gets solved."

General Chu sighed. He didn't know what to do anymore. Everyone in the manor was tired. It was hard for them to get up in the morning to go to work and for the kids to go to school. Even his wife's health was going downhill.

Seeing how much chaos they caused, the two siblings decided to end their show soon. Dragging it on for too long won't be a good thing, either.

The following night, as planned, the two siblings did their usual routine, except the letter they had sent was empty. The one with the evidence would be shot out later.

Once again, Zhixin started to scream at the top of his lungs. Over the past week, he had lost a lot of sleep and appetite, making him look haggard and skinny. After everyone came over again, and guards ran around looking for the culprit, BaiLing shot out the last arrow for their mission. The arrow flew right between general Chu and Zhixin before hitting the door. Seeing the letter, Zhixin wanted to grab it, but it was taken away by general Chu first.

Panicking, Zhixin tried to get the letter back, but the general was already opening it. And in the meantime, Xiu Ming looked over at the direction the arrow came from, but he couldn't see anyone. He then hopped onto the roof to get a better view. However, all he saw were two little sparrows perched on the tiles.

Xiu Ming: "Even you guys came to watch the show, huh?"

BaiLing and Zhi Chen, pretending to be sparrows, cocked their heads to a side. Although they were sure they wouldn't get caught, acting like the real thing was still good.

Only seeing the two birds, Xiu Ming returned to where his family was. When he got to where his father was standing, he could see his cousin sweating, and his father's face became red with anger.

Jinhai: "YOU! How could you do this?!! They are your cousins, your family! Do you have any humanity left in you?!"

Everyone around them froze. Everyone was confused. What was going on? Why was the general so mad?

Xiu Ming reached over, took the papers from his father, and looked at them. Although they already knew he was trying to kill them, the evidence in front of them was worse than they thought.

Although guilty, Zhixin still tried to deny it and play dumb.

Zhixin: "What are you talking about, uncle? Whatever it is that is on that paper is fake. There must be someone who is trying to harm me."

Jinhai: "With all this evidence, you're still trying to lie?! Guards! Go and search his room."

The guards quickly went into his room to search for any clues. A few minutes later, they came out with a couple things in hand. One of them is the letter from yesterday and the leftover poison bottle.

Jinhai: "Do you still want to deny this?!"

Zhixin: "Uncle... I... I.... please forgive me. I... I really didn't mean to. It was my father who forced me. Please, uncle."

Everyone around was shocked by what they heard. An older brother wants to harm his younger brother's family.

General Chu shook his head and said.

"What's done is done. You had a choice, but you blew it. Guards take him into his room. Don't let him out. He'll be sent home in two days."

The guards did as they were told, and Zhixin did not fight back. Now that the case was solved, everyone went back to their rooms. Dawn was about to come, and many would have very little rest for the next couple of hours. As their plan was complete, BaiLing and Zhi Chen flew home to get some rest for themselves.

(Night before the banquet.)

I returned back to my room after dinner. It had been a long couple of weeks. I was tired mentally and physically. After the banquet tomorrow, the two evaluations will be held. So, to relax a bit, I went to take a bath and soak in the water. 

Sitting in the bath, I could feel the warm water flowing around me, with the smell of jasmine steaming up from the water. I looked down at the water as I pushed it around. Catching a glimpse of the arms, I could see that it was full of scars. Some were old and mostly faded, while others were still new and visible. I was never ashamed of them. They were trophies of my victories. However, they did limit my choice of clothing. I had to avoid extremely light colors and anything too thin. If people saw my scars, who knows what rumors might spread.

I leaned back against the edge and closed my eye for a bit. After regaining enough energy, I got out and dried myself off. Once I put on my night clothes, I got into bed and tried to sleep. However, sleep wouldn't come to me. So, I went outside to sit and watch the moon. 

The night was quiet, and the wind was blowing lightly. Everything felt so peaceful at that moment, but this was just a facade that hid a storm raging behind. I closed my eyes and felt the wind blow and the cicadas sing, trying to relax my mind. Yet, I didn't feel any better when I opened them again. 

I pulled out my mother's flute and ran my fingers over the poem craved on it. Tomorrow I will be doing something that I haven't done in years. I wasn't confident and wasn't sure if I could do it. I held the flute close to my heart and hoped for the best.